The young cadet blinked in confusion. "There's just one thing I don't understand," he said. "You didn't try to kill your parents, and you didn't try to kill yourself. What were the cyanide pills for?"
Dark Meadows explained, "Somepony told me I could mash one up and throw it into the water where I saw a fish, and then the fish would get kind of sleepy and be easier to net. I still don't know if it really works. I never got a chance to try."
That was the main reason she'd had for ordering those pills, Meadows told herself. Maybe she'd sometimes felt she had other reasons too, back then. But she didn't like talking about that part of her past with most ponies.
***
A house-sized rock shimmered in the night. Out of the blur stepped a dark, mysterious alicorn princess.
"Hi!" the princess said. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."
A stubble-faced stallion stared at her, looking very confused. Then he smiled. "Hello, gorgeous! I must be dreaming. Because you're too beautiful to be real."
"Aww! You flatter me! Although you're technically correct." The alicorn examined the stallion carefully, comparing his face and cutie mark against a piece of paper she held in one forehoof. "Stanley Hotbox, are you a drug dealer?"
She squinted more closely at the paper. "Or are you a professional wagon thief? Sorry, the ink on the bottom of this paper is kind of smeared."
Author's Note
I'm not making any promises that all of Twilight Sparkle's decisions in this story were ideal. That's part of the trouble with life and responsibilities.
So Lavender Unicorn Syndrome (link) is actually a flirting technique. Sorry not sorry.
If you want to read a good story about a troubled youth who doesn't commit suicide, there's always GaPJaxie's "The Third Wheel." (link)
After you read that story, you can give my story negative comments and downvotes for not being as good!
